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Sunday, June 9, 2019

Third in the Dining Out Around the Solar System Series by Clare O'Beara

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By now we are familiar with Donal
and Myron and to what great lengths they will go for a story as journalists. and help others in futuristic London. Working on an article about imports from the planet
Mercury will have them doing just that. They also find out that not all of the
off-world immigrants have the best intentions, causing them to take chances to
get the story, yet again. Student protesters cause a riot at the dome, which
will be another big story for the two friends. They are by now considered the
foremost journalism off-world watchers.

Donal has it on good
authority that mint green is the color of the season. Which is not the reason
large buildings in major cities around the world are lighted in green for the 17th
of March. Since he is press from London’s Eye, he tries to get in the
large dome no one is allowed to enter. Do you guess he will find a way in and
also uncover a story?

Again, this book has
scientific information, and in this one I learned quite a bit about the bubonic plague.
There is also fiction, of course, and ground squirrels in American squirrels
now have bubonic plague. I looked it up online and they actually do now in a few
parts of the USA, resulting in a very few human deaths per year. It took a
science fiction book to help me realize that fact. Rats are part of a problem
in this book, but our heroes will try to solve the situation. After all, they
helped origami be considered as an Olympic sport. A sports reporter was sent to
cover a tournament. Yes, an Origami tournament, or “alternative” sports.

We learn more about
climate change and the runaway greenhouse effect making lakes and seas very
acidic. The Londoners are practical and wear solar panels in their coats or
shirts to charge their tablets, phone, books, and other electronic devices. People
move up the mountains to avoid the wind as it results in additional problems. Climate
change contributes to problems in society. Students protest because of
student loans, not being able to find employment, and being financially
strapped – which sounds like many college graduates today. The problems in the
book mirror our problems today in many ways, including racism, women’s rights, tax
evasion, migrant worker issues, and others we hear about on a daily basis. It
is a dystopian story.

The heroes are
modest, as this quote reveals:

“London’s Eye would win an award for breaking and
covering the Skybridge story the following spring; we let Kipp and Angie go to
collect it at the prestigious Press Awards dinner. We reckoned they deserved
it."

Donal and Myron could have accepted the award but chose to let others have the glory.

Americans, be sure to read the Glossary of London terms such as "whistle
and flute" means a suit. Fun!

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